Monday, November 12, 2007

Ron Paul's record

By Libby

I've been glad to see Ron Paul's candidacy thrive mainly because it's enlarged the public debate to include discussion on the folly of problem solving at the point of a gun and the basic idea that nanny government is an anathema to democracy. But I haven't been able to clearly articulate my discomfort with the bulk of his agenda mainly because I didn't have easy access to his voting record. Thanks to Dave Neiwert, that's no longer a problem as he's compiled a long list of Ron Paul's record of votes and proposed bills. A quick scan should obviate the need for further explanation why, as a progressive, I want him in the race but don't really want him to become president.

I've been thinking lately that Blogtopia, like our MSM, has become too focused on horse race reporting rather than documenting policy positions. I've been guilty of it myself. We need more posts like this on all the candidates.

11 Comments:

You can find voting records and brief descriptions of legislation here:

http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=296

You can find bills and congressional record remarks here:

http://thomas.loc.gov/

The best way to learn about a candidates position is to find votes that don't seem good to you on vote smart. Then go to the congressional record and read why they supported or did not support the bill. I have often found candidates who vote against my wishes have very good reasons for doing so. Sometimes, I have found candidates who mostly vote in my favor, but for all the wrong reasons, and I can't support them in office.

I hope that those who don't take the time to familiarize themselves with the official actions of the candidates (Romney's MA signing statements and Clinton's voting record) stay home on election day and let those in the know vote on reason instead of rhetoric.

It's not the same as having a list like this blogger put together. I've seen it in bits and pieces but you often to know the bill number to get the info. I don't have the time or resources to comb through all the data to compile one source sheet for the info.

i love his revolutionary views that our cia should not overthrow govts, and assasinate world leaders, and especially how he would close the federal reserve-this is the type of talk that will get the powers that be to make some calls to modern day lee harvey oswalds